This application claims the priority of German application 100 22 813.5, filed May 10, 2000, the disclosure of which is expressly incorporated by reference herein.
The present invention relates to a safety device for supporting pedals in motor vehicles with a bracket support arranged in a wall area of a splash wall or bulkhead that is noticeably deformed into a passenger compartment in the event of a vehicle head-on collision, a pedal pivot shaft of at least one swivelling pedal, acting on a push rod being mounted in the bracket support.
In a head-on collision of a vehicle, especially a passenger car, most vehicles sustain among other things major deformations and displacements of the so-called splash wall or bulkhead, which divides the passenger compartment from the engine compartment, into the passenger compartment.
The pedals for operating the vehicle, that is the foot controls, are often fixed to the wall area of this very same splash wall or bulkhead, which in the event of a head-on collision of the vehicle is noticeably deformed into the passenger compartment.
Left to themselves, therefore, the foot controls with the pedals coupled thereto would, in the event of a head-on collision of the vehicle, also be shifted further into the passenger compartment, thereby considerably increasing the risk of injury to the driver.
In addition, it is also conceivable, however, that a deformation of the vehicle might occur in such a way that the driver""s foot becomes trapped under a pedal, thereby causing undue harm to the occupant of the driver""s seat.
In order to avoid such harm, especially foot injuries, to the occupant, DE 4 409 235 A1, for example, discloses a method of fitting the pedal pivot shaft to the fixed vehicle mounting in an abutment, which through interaction with an unlocking mechanism supported on a cross member fixed to the vehicle, automatically releases the pedal pivot shaft in the event of a frontal impact. The disadvantage of this pedal support, however, is that it is relatively expensive to manufacture and takes up a lot of space in the motor vehicle, thereby greatly increasing the manufacturing costs and also the operating costs of the motor vehicle.
In addition, German Patent document DE 4 409 324, for example, discloses a design for safety foot controls in such a way that the pedals of the foot controls are swivel-mounted on a pedal pivot shaft, which is in turn fitted at the bottom of a slot-shaped sliding-block guide of the bracket support that extends at least approximately vertically and, in the event of a displacement of the bracket support towards the cross member due to a collision, is automatically drawn upwards in the sliding-block guide by a cable or a chain-shaped force-transmitting member acting thereon and interacting with deflection sheaves. As a result the pedal(s) is/are shifted upwards out of the vehicle footwell into areas of the passenger compartment presenting no danger to the driver. The pedal and the push rod are automatically uncoupled. This, too, is a very expensive design arrangement, which leads to unacceptably high manufacturing costs.
German Patent document DE 196 17 372 furthermore discloses a method of uncoupling the brake pedal from its support by pyrotechnic means in the event of a head-on collision. In such a development it has proved necessary, among other things, to provide expensive sensors, which in the event of a head-on collision activate a pyrotechnic gas generator, thereby uncoupling the pedal from its suspension.
European Patent application EP 0 827 874 also discloses an arrangement, in which the pedal pivot shaft can be released from its support, hence releasing the pedal pivot shaft from the pedal bracket support in the event of a head-on collision.
In the case of the accelerator pedal unit described in German Patent document DE 196 31 212 and corresponding U.S. Pat. No. 5,896,781, the pedals are released in the event of a vehicle accident by breaking of the bolts fixing the pedals to the bracket support. It is thereby possible to reduce the risk to the driver from the fixed pedal shifting into the passenger compartment in the event of a head-on collision.
Similarly in German Patent document DE 195 01 680 PS foot controls are explained, in which the pedal support shaft is fully released in the event of a head-on collision. The pedal then remains connected only to the brake or clutch cable or the like and can otherwise move freely in relation to the surrounding footwell, so that in the event of an accident it can move out of the way of the feet and/or legs of the driver.
In the case of these foot controls disclosed by the prior art, in which the pedals detach themselves completely from the pedal support shaft in the event of a head-on collision, the fact that the pedal, after release from its support, can move about uncontrollably in the vehicle footwell may, however, be disadvantageous.
German Patent document DE 195 01 859 A1 in addition discloses a safety arrangement for a motor vehicle with pedal foot controls, in which a bracket support for the pedal foot controls is fixed to a carrier element, which is separated and isolated from a splash wall defining the front of the passenger compartment. The carrier element is therefore intended to be located in a position in the vehicle, which is not directly affected by a vehicle accident and does not therefore immediately push the pedal foot controls further into the passenger compartment in the event of a frontal impact. In the event of an accident the pedal foot controls can even be displaced by the driver by means of an actuating rod, thereby reducing the risk of injury to the driver.
The pedal foot controls with the actuating rod described in this published patent application are in no way safe in the event of a vehicle accident, however, and cannot effectively prevent injuries to the driver, since the entire arrangement is exposed to the deformations occurring in the event of an accident and as a result the proposed operating action cannot be guaranteed. Furthermore, the separated arrangement of the bracket support requires a relatively large design space.
German Patent documents DE 196 52 014 and DE 197 37 114 also disclose a pedal support for a motor vehicle, which is to be provided in such a way that the pedal can be uncoupled from its support in the event of a frontal impact.
The method specified in PCT publication WO 97/28029, which describes how the pedal support shaft is uncoupled from its support by means of release devices also functions in a similar way. The release devices are activated by sensors.
In all the safety devices known in the prior art for the support of pedals in vehicles, the fact that following a head-on collision the pedal is sometimes partially uncoupled from the push rod but is in all cases completely uncoupled from its support so that, for example, braking with the corresponding brake pedal is no longer possible, has, however, proved disadvantageous.
It is the object of the present invention, therefore, to provide a safety device for the support of pedals in motor vehicles, in which partial braking at least is still possible following a head-on collision.
This object is achieved by a safety device of the type stated in the introductory part having the pedal pivot shaft is mounted in the bracket support in a guide extending approximately horizontally, the guide having limits in each horizontal direction; and the pedal pivot shaft in normal operation being fixed in a forward position of the guide, viewed in a forward direction of travel, and the fixing being neutralized in the event of a head-on collision.
The safety device according to the invention for supporting pedals in motor vehicles includes a bracket support arranged in the area of a wall area of a splash wall or bulkhead that is noticeably deformed into a passenger compartment in the event of a vehicle head-on collision. A pedal pivot shaft of at least one swivelling pedal, especially a brake pedal, acting on a push rod is mounted in the bracket support. The pedal pivot shaft is mounted in the bracket support in a guide extending basically horizontally, the guide having limits in each horizontal direction and the pedal pivot shaft in normal operation being fixed in a forward position of the guide, viewed in the forward direction of travel, and the said fixing being neutralized in the event of a head-on collision.
Such an arrangement indicates that the pedal is no longer fixedly supported in the event of a head-on collision, but is allowed a certain facility to move towards the interior of the vehicle. It is, however, not separated in such a way that the connection to a push rod is completely lost or that the pedal is only still fixed to the latter, leaving it dangling loosely about this fixing. It is thereby possible, even after release of the fixing, to undertake at least partial braking through the support in the guide and the fixing to the brake rod.
Another advantage of such a safety device is the fact that the pedal, released from its fixed support, does not dangle uncontrollably in the footwell but moves in a controlled manner in the footwell.
In this context a head-on collision, as mentioned, is intended to include any type of collision in which deformations might occur in the frontal area of the vehicle. This indicates that it may also involve secondary head-on collisions, for example, and need not necessarily relate to primary head-on collisions.
It also goes without saying that the partial braking, which according to the present invention is retained even following an accident, cannot be retained in accidents of absolutely any severity. If a very heavy head-on collision occurs, the support for the pedals according to the present invention may also be destroyed in such a way that braking is no longer possible. In an accident of such severity, however, braking will also no longer be required.
It has proved particularly advantageous if the safety device according to the invention is designed in such a way that the fixing is neutralized by movement of the support bracket relative to a part of the vehicle that retains its spatial position basically unchanged even in the event of a head-on collision.
In such a development of the present invention it is of particular advantage that no separate release mechanism need be provided for the fixing, but that the fixing is simply neutralized by relative movement in the event of a frontal impact.
Further advantages and advantageous developments of the invention are set out in the claims and the example of an embodiment, the principle of which is described with reference to the drawing.
Other objects, advantages and novel features of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of the invention when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.